It is often quite useful to know that someone has received and read an email you have sent to them, maybe you want to follow it with more information or even a phone call. But how do you know they’ve received and read your email?

The answer lies in the humble ‘Read Receipt’ this is an option to an email which sends a small text email back to the original sender to tell then the recipient has read the email, hence the name.

In Outlook 2010 to add a Read Receipt request simply start a new email message.

Next click on the ‘Options’ tab.

Here you will see two related options ‘Request a Delivery Receipt’ and ‘Request a Read Receipt’.

The ‘Request a Delivery Receipt’ option is rarely used these days, and all it does is confirm that an emails has arrived in the recipients Inbox, not that it has been read.

The option we want is obviously ‘Request a Read Receipt’ – By ticking the box you will receive a confirmation email once the recipient opens the original email.

NOTE – Many email clients will give the recipient the option NOT to send a Read Receipt, so be careful not to assume that no receipt means your email hasn’t been read.